George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 7, 4th edition.

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Chapter 33:

Effects of the day of Lexington and Concord in Europe.

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May to July, 1775.

the news from Lexington surprised London in the

Chap. Xxxiii} 1775. May.

last days of May. The people had been lulled into a belief, that the ministry indulged in menaces only to render the olive branch acceptable; and the measures of parliament implied confidence in peace. And now it was certain that war had begun, that Britain was at war with herself.

The Massachusetts congress, by a swift packet in its own service, had sent to England a calm and accurate statement of the events of the nineteenth of April, fortified by depositions, with a charge to Arthur Lee their agent, to give it the widest circulation. These were their words to the inhabitants of Britain: ‘Brethren, we profess to be loyal and dutiful subjects, and so hardly dealt with as we have been, are still ready, with our lives and fortunes, to defend the person, family, crown, and dignity of our royal sovereign. Nevertheless, to the persecution and tyranny of his cruel ministry we will not submit; ’